Max Lucado Daily: WHISPERED REMINDER
In Matthew 6, Jesus prayed: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
A prayer that begins. . . May I not view you as a distant father, but as one who has come to earth and understands the challenges and temptations of my life. Be near me today, whisper reminders that you’re close. My friends need you today as they make difficult decisions in their workplace and in their families. Show them you are closer than even their earthly fathers. Thank you for hearing me and listening to my pleas. It’s in Jesus’ name I pray this, amen.
Here’s my challenge for you! Every day for four weeks, pray four minutes; and get ready to connect with God like never before!
Read more Before Amen
Matthew 27:1-26
Thirty Silver Coins
1-2 In the first light of dawn, all the high priests and religious leaders met and put the finishing touches on their plot to kill Jesus. Then they tied him up and paraded him to Pilate, the governor.
3-4 Judas, the one who betrayed him, realized that Jesus was doomed. Overcome with remorse, he gave back the thirty silver coins to the high priests, saying, “I’ve sinned. I’ve betrayed an innocent man.”
They said, “What do we care? That’s your problem!”
5 Judas threw the silver coins into the Temple and left. Then he went out and hung himself.
6-10 The high priests picked up the silver pieces, but then didn’t know what to do with them. “It wouldn’t be right to give this—a payment for murder!—as an offering in the Temple.” They decided to get rid of it by buying the “Potter’s Field” and use it as a burial place for the homeless. That’s how the field got called “Murder Meadow,” a name that has stuck to this day. Then Jeremiah’s words became history:
They took the thirty silver pieces,
The price of the one priced by some sons of Israel,
And they purchased the potter’s field.
And so they unwittingly followed the divine instructions to the letter.
Pilate
11 Jesus was placed before the governor, who questioned him: “Are you the ‘King of the Jews’?”
Jesus said, “If you say so.”
12-14 But when the accusations rained down hot and heavy from the high priests and religious leaders, he said nothing. Pilate asked him, “Do you hear that long list of accusations? Aren’t you going to say something?” Jesus kept silence—not a word from his mouth. The governor was impressed, really impressed.
15-18 It was an old custom during the Feast for the governor to pardon a single prisoner named by the crowd. At the time, they had the infamous Jesus Barabbas in prison. With the crowd before him, Pilate said, “Which prisoner do you want me to pardon: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus the so-called Christ?” He knew it was through sheer spite that they had turned Jesus over to him.
19 While court was still in session, Pilate’s wife sent him a message: “Don’t get mixed up in judging this noble man. I’ve just been through a long and troubled night because of a dream about him.”
20 Meanwhile, the high priests and religious leaders had talked the crowd into asking for the pardon of Barabbas and the execution of Jesus.
21 The governor asked, “Which of the two do you want me to pardon?”
They said, “Barabbas!”
22 “Then what do I do with Jesus, the so-called Christ?”
They all shouted, “Nail him to a cross!”
23 He objected, “But for what crime?”
But they yelled all the louder, “Nail him to a cross!”
24 When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere and that a riot was imminent, he took a basin of water and washed his hands in full sight of the crowd, saying, “I’m washing my hands of responsibility for this man’s death. From now on, it’s in your hands. You’re judge and jury.”
25 The crowd answered, “We’ll take the blame, we and our children after us.”
26 Then he pardoned Barabbas. But he had Jesus whipped, and then handed over for crucifixion.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Friday, February 16, 2018
Read: Leviticus 19:33–34
33 “‘When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. 34 The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
INSIGHT
The story of Ruth (a Moabitess) offers a moving illustration of “loving the foreigner.” The pagan nation of Moab was situated just east of the Dead Sea. The Moabites were descended from Moab, the son of Lot (Genesis 19:37). During the exodus and throughout the reigns of Saul and David, the Moabites were frequently at war with Israel.
In the time of the judges, Naomi and Elimelek and their sons settled in Moab to escape a famine in Israel (Ruth 1). During their stay, Elimelek died, the sons married Moabite women (Ruth and Orpah), and then the sons also died. With no one to care for them, Naomi and Ruth left Moab and returned to Bethlehem, where Ruth was a foreigner (who may have been despised because of her heritage).
When they arrived, “the barley harvest was beginning” (v. 22). As a widow, Ruth was allowed to gather the leftover grain after the harvesters had gone through. “As it turned out,” she ended in the field of Boaz, a relative of Elimelek’s (2:3). But it was no coincidence. Boaz’s kindness resulted in Ruth and his place in the ancestry of King David (and Jesus) (Matthew 1:5–16).
What would it look like for you to extend kindness to a stranger? - Alyson Kieda
Loving All
By Leslie Koh
The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself. Leviticus 19:34
I worship in a church located in a large, open field—a rare commodity on the island of Singapore (we’re just twenty-five miles long and fifteen miles wide). Some time back, people from abroad who work in my country started gathering on the church property for a picnic every Sunday.
This evoked a range of responses from fellow churchgoers. Some fretted about the mess the visitors would leave behind. But others saw this as a divine opportunity to extend hospitality to a wonderful group of strangers—without even leaving the church grounds!
May we have God’s heart to love others as ourselves.
The Israelites must have faced similar issues in their time. After they settled in their new land, they had to grapple with how to relate to other peoples. But God expressly commanded them to treat foreigners like their own kind, and to love them as themselves (Leviticus 19:34). Many of His laws made special mention of foreigners: they were not to be mistreated or oppressed, and they were to be loved and helped (Exodus 23:9; Deuteronomy 10:19). Centuries later, Jesus would command us to do the same: to love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:31).
May we have God’s heart to love others as ourselves, remembering that we too are sojourners on this earth. Yet we have been loved as God’s people, treated as His own.
Father, You have made each and every one of us in Your likeness. May we love those from elsewhere and seek to reach out to them with Your love.
Embracing God’s love for us is the key to loving others.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, February 16, 2018
The Inspiration of Spiritual Initiative
Arise from the dead… —Ephesians 5:14
Not all initiative, the willingness to take the first step, is inspired by God. Someone may say to you, “Get up and get going! Take your reluctance by the throat and throw it overboard— just do what needs to be done!” That is what we mean by ordinary human initiative. But when the Spirit of God comes to us and says, in effect, “Get up and get going,” suddenly we find that the initiative is inspired.
We all have many dreams and aspirations when we are young, but sooner or later we realize we have no power to accomplish them. We cannot do the things we long to do, so our tendency is to think of our dreams and aspirations as dead. But God comes and says to us, “Arise from the dead….” When God sends His inspiration, it comes to us with such miraculous power that we are able to “arise from the dead” and do the impossible. The remarkable thing about spiritual initiative is that the life and power comes after we “get up and get going.” God does not give us overcoming life— He gives us life as we overcome. When the inspiration of God comes, and He says, “Arise from the dead…,” we have to get ourselves up; God will not lift us up. Our Lord said to the man with the withered hand, “Stretch out your hand” (Matthew 12:13). As soon as the man did so, his hand was healed. But he had to take the initiative. If we will take the initiative to overcome, we will find that we have the inspiration of God, because He immediately gives us the power of life.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
When you are joyful, be joyful; when you are sad, be sad. If God has given you a sweet cup, don’t make it bitter; and if He has given you a bitter cup, don’t try and make it sweet; take things as they come. Shade of His Hand, 1226 L
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, February 16, 2018
The Most Surprised People in Hell - #8115
When you have a commercial flight to catch at a major airport, it's important to pay attention. There are so many flights, so many gates, so many people, and there's only one plane you want to board; the one that's going to your destination. Right? Well, I guess folks must have made mistakes over the years. I mean, that's got to be the reason the boarding agent or the flight attendant gets on the plane and often says something like this: "This is a destination check. You're on Flight 88 to Atlanta. If Atlanta is not your destination today, this would be a good time for you to deplane." Yeah, I guess. In other words, this buggy ain't going where you want to end up!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Most Surprised People in Hell."
It's one of the most chilling truths in the Bible: there are people who are sure their destination is going to be heaven and they're never going to get there. Unless, you might say, they get off the wrong plane and get on the right plane.
Would you listen to these sobering words from Jesus Himself in Luke 13, beginning with verse 24. It's our word for today from the Word of God. "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Sir, open the door for us.' But He will answer, 'I don't know you' ... Then you will say, 'We ate and drank with You, and You taught in our streets.' But He will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from. Away from Me...'"
Jesus then concludes by describing this heartbreaking scene: "There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrust out." These are tough verses, but they're here so none of us will end up being one of the most surprised people in hell. They're here because Jesus loves us too much to let us live and die with the spiritual fantasy that we're ready for eternity when we are not.
It is dangerously easy to know all the "Jesus words" and miss Jesus; to have Him in your head, but not in your heart, to be in a religion that's all about Jesus, but miss Jesus, to have lots of Christianity but never have Christ. It's easy to mistake agreeing with Jesus for commitment to Jesus.
I have a number of friends that I agree with on many things, but I'm not married to them. You know, my marriage was to my wife, not because of my agreement with her, but because of my total commitment to her. It's the same with Jesus. The question is this: Has there been a time in your life when you have consciously given yourself completely to Jesus, when you've committed yourself to live for the One who died for your sins? If you know you've done that, you belong to Jesus. If you don't know you've done that, you probably haven't. And you probably need to like sooner rather than later.
Heaven and hell are nothing to gamble with. Please don't let your religious pride cost you heaven. Tell Jesus this very day, "Lord, I've known about you a long time, I've never really known You. But I want to beginning right now. I'm not putting my trust in my Christianity. That will never get me to heaven. No, Lord, I'm putting all my trust in You, Jesus; in what You did on the cross to erase my sins. Beginning today, Jesus, I am Yours."
Wow! This could be the for real day when you really know Him for real. Get it settled. Let's get this done while you're hearing His voice in your heart. I would encourage you to go to our website ANewStory.com. It's all about securing your relationship with Jesus Christ. That's ANewStory.com. I hope you'll go there as soon as you can.
It's time for an eternal destination check while there's still time to go the way that will get you where you want to be forever.